Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Question on Onkyo Amp and Axiom speakers

All,

I bought the Epic 80 w/o sub a few months ago and love it. I am looking at the onkyo tx-sr700 as a 6.1 source. It looks amazing. I was wondering if anybody else is running the (or similar) onkyo with the M80ti? Onkyo says 6 ohms max, and M80ti dips to 4 ohms in a couple of places. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Z

I run the Onkyo DS797 with M60s and the sound is beautiful.

I was really interested if anybody was using the M80s. They have a 4 ohm impedance and the M60s have an 8 ohm. Onkyo says 6 ohm max for the receiver, but I wanted to see if anybody was pushing it and what (if any) side effects they had.
thx

Hello zsulak,

I'll post the same response I made to syxx elswhere on the boards about his Kenwood and driving a 4-ohm load, because it also applies to Onkyo:

"Nor will I tell you to ignore the 4-ohm impedance of your M80's. Look at the back panel of your Kenwood near the speaker binding posts. What does it say? Is there a switch you can move "For speakers of less than 6 ohms impedance" or it might say "For low-impedance loads--4 ohms".

It might also say "do not use speakers of less than 8 ohms (or perhaps 6 ohms)", in which case, be careful. The M80s are very sensitive, which means they'll play very loud on only a few watts of input power, but their impedance curve touches 4 ohms in a couple of places. That means lots of current will flow through your Kenwood's output transistors. Put your hand over the top of the receiver: it should never get hot (warm is okay) and be sure it's well ventilated.

If there's a switch for 4-ohm loads, that will impose some current limiting on the output stage, which is okay as long as you don't try and overdrive the Kenwood at high levels. If you do, it may just shut down until it cools, or you reduce the level. It's a protection mechanism so you don't blow your output stage."

All this applies to the Onkyo. They offer a lot of features for the money but tend to skimp on the heat sinking and output stage cooling, so that limits the Onkyo's potential (usually) with low-impedance loads. You'd be better off with a heavier (literally) receiver like a Denon, which is stable with 4-ohm loads and has lots of heavy heat-sinking to keep those output devices cool.

Regards,

zsulak

Just a note. I don't believe the floor limit for the SR700 is 6 ohms. That is just the lowest ohm reading they give specs on. If this receiver is like the 797 it will power 4 ohm speakers as long as you flip switch from 8 to 6.

Maybe someone else here actually has 80's hooked up to an Onkyo. I have M22TI's.

b_man

onkyo posts 6 ohms min for the sr700. The 797 says 4 ohm with a switch, but there is not a switch for the 700! I have no problem with active cooling (additional) fans added to keep it cool. This would only be a temporary receiver until I get my house built and then I am going separates and that goes in the bedroom.

thx

I'm running a pair of m 80's and a vp 150 center off an Onkyo 787 receiver and for movies it was fine.for music at louder levels the m 80's were triping the auto-protect off and the receiver would shut it's self down.this was not at ear blistering levels but louder than h/t.so I ended up buying a seperate amp and now everything is music bliss.I've also noticed that my center and rears sound more dynamic possibly from freeing up some power from the front two channels.I like the Onkyo for the features for the money and I absolutly love the m 80's but despite what some people will post on these boards stateing that the m80's will do fine with an a/v receiver I'm here to tell you it just 'aint gonna happen.well you'll probably be allright if you pick up the $3500.00 dennon but for that kinda green I would go for the seperates.

I kinda figured that I may hit protect mode if (and when) I crank it. I love the M80s and I love to crank them. I have decided to go ahead and get an additional 2 channel amp for the M80s and free up the power for the other 4 channels.

thx

yes i am also getting a 2channel amp to do that. i just couldnt pass up the deal i got!